Best Musical – New York Show Newshttp://www.nytix.com/news
Broadway Show and TV news in NYCSat, 17 Feb 2018 21:39:32 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.3Ben Platt to Depart “Dear Evan Hansen” in the Fallhttp://www.nytix.com/news/16273/ben-platt-depart-dear-evan-hansen-fall
Sun, 20 Aug 2017 13:08:37 +0000http://www.nytix.com/news/?p=16273Final Performance Will Be November 19, 2017 Dear Evan Hansen, which has a book by Steven Levenson, and music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, surpassed the competition to become this year’s Tony Award winning Best Musical. In fact, the show swept the awards, winning more than any other show: 6 of the […]

Dear Evan Hansen, which has a book by Steven Levenson, and music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, surpassed the competition to become this year’s Tony Award winning Best Musical. In fact, the show swept the awards, winning more than any other show: 6 of the 9 awards for which it was nominated, including Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Orchestrations, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for Rachel Bay Jones, and last but not least, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for Ben Platt. Ben Platt has become a breakout star since his debut in Dear Evan Hansen, which was his second Broadway outing following a run as Elder Cunningham in The Book of Mormon from January 7, 2014 to January 4, 2015. As for Dear Evan Hansen, the show began previews on November 14, 2016, ahead of an opening night on December 4, 2016. By the time Platt departs on November 19, 2017, a date that has just been announced, he will have been in the show for approximately a year.

No Replacement Has Yet Been Announced

While Platt’s departure is still several months away, the producers are certainly already scrambling to figure out who is best to replace him. In general, Tony Award winning Best Musicals are capable of sustaining beyond their original cast, but especially when that original lead star is a breakout who won the Tony for his performance, it is all the trickier to choose a replacement lead who will continue the show’s momentum, hopefully shepherding it into a long run of many years. Fortunately, the role is for a young man, who doesn’t necessarily have to be a big name, and it is likely that the success of the show itself will continue to draw audience members to the theatre. In contrast, the current revival of Hello, Dolly! is experiencing difficulty with Bette Midler’s imminent departure, as it became clear when Donna Murphy stepped in for a two-week vacation that sales for that show are highly dependent on Midler’s fame. Similarly, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 was forced to announce closure not long after the original Broadway star Josh Groban departed the cast, following a series of casting and PR snafus.

Next for Platt: “Drunk Parents” Film and “Will & Grace” Guest Appearance

As for Ben Platt, his career is just beginning. Following his respectable year-long, Tony Award winning run in this year’s Best Musical, he already has a number of projects lined up. One upcoming project is a feature film called Drunk Parents, which is written by Peter Gaulke and Fred Wolf, and is directed by Fred Wolf. This film began principal photography in January 2016, starring Alec Baldwin, Salma Hayek, Bridget Moynahan, Joe Manganiello, Olivia Luccardi, Treat Williams, and Ben Platt. While a precise release date has not yet been announced, the film is scheduled to come out sometime later this year. In addition, Platt has filmed an episode as guest star in the new revival of the NBC television show Will & Grace. This wildly successful television show originally ran from 1998 to 2006, starring Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes, and has recently announced a revival series. The ninth season will commence on September 28, 2017, and Ben Platt’s episode will air on October 5, 2017.

]]>“Dear Evan Hansen” Soars; “Natasha, Pierre” Tumbleshttp://www.nytix.com/news/16044/dear-evan-hansen-soars-natasha-pierre-tumbles
Wed, 12 Jul 2017 21:32:12 +0000http://www.nytix.com/news/?p=16044Tony Win Begins to Pay Off for Best Musical Winner In the week ending July 9, 2017, Tony Award winning Best Musical Dear Evan Hansen had a greater increase in box office than any other show, going up by $383,140 to reach a weekly gross of $1,725,297, or 125.2% of its gross potential. That is […]

In the week ending July 9, 2017, Tony Award winning Best Musical Dear Evan Hansen had a greater increase in box office than any other show, going up by $383,140 to reach a weekly gross of $1,725,297, or 125.2% of its gross potential. That is the highest percentage of gross potential this new musical has reached in the run to date. It beat last week’s record of 113.90% of gross potential, which equated to a weekly gross of $1,342,157. Starring Ben Platt in the title role, Dear Evan Hansen has been running since November 14, 2017, ahead of its opening night on December 4, 2017. With music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, accompanying a book by Steven Levenson, this musical is directed by Michael Greif and choreographed by Danny Mefford.

Meanwhile, the musical that was perhaps the second most likely show this year to win Best Musical, given that it earned the most Tony nominations of any show with 14, took a big dip. Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 saw the biggest decrease of any show this past week, going down by $518,963 to reach a weekly gross of $890,914. The reason for this giant fall is more than just the Tony loss catching up with it; rather, the stark drop is due to the fact that last week was the final week for the show’s star, Josh Groban. With Groban’s departure, it is clear that this musical has much less fuel at the box office. This past week’s gross amounted to just 73.92% of the show’s gross potential, while the average percentage reached of gross potential in the run thus far is 93.51%, demonstrating that this past week was a serious anomaly. With next week’s numbers, it will be clear whether the sales have completely plateaued following Groban’s tenure, or whether this was a particularly bad week and the sales might creep back up. Still, it is unlikely that the musical will reach the level at which it has been playing thus far, unless another star of Groban’s stature is found.

A Slightly Slower Week on Broadway

Of the 30 shows running this past week, which is two fewer than the week before, the average weekly gross was $969,423, which is a drop from last week’s per show average gross of $1,014,872. The collective Broadway box office went down by $1,363,689 from the week before, amounting to $29,082,684. The average percentage reached of gross potential across the board was 71.27%, and the average ticket price was $113.53, from an average top ticket price of $299.92. Beyond Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, another show that contributed to this overall decrease was Hello, Dolly!, given that Bette Midler is still on her prescheduled vacation, and Donna Murphy is performing in her stead. That show’s box office dropped yet again, going down by $214,029 from the previous week, which was itself a huge drop from the week before that, reaching a gross this past week of $722,574, or 48.2% of its gross potential. This is by far the lowest gross that show has earned to date, with its average ticket price dipping down to $81.36, and still only playing to an average of 76.8% of audience capacity.

The cast from Tony Award nominees, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen, Falsettos, Miss Saigon, Groundhog Day, Hello, Dolly!, War Paint, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, and Bandstand performed a memorable number from each show. There was also a special tribute performance dedicated to New York City sung by previous Tony Award recipients, Leslie Odom Jr. and Cynthia Erivo.

In a shocking turn of events, the most nominated Broadway show of the season, Great Comet of 1812 only won two of the 12 nominations the show garnered, while Dear Evan Hansen won the award for Best Musical as well as 5 other awards of the 7 it was nominated for.

See the full list of the winners (and losers) this Broadway season:

Best Musical:
“Dear Evan Hansen” (WINNER)Come From Away
Groundhog Day The Musical
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Best Book of a Musical: Dear Evan Hansen – Steven Levenson (WINNER)Come From Away – Irene Sankoff and David HeinGroundhog Day The Musical – Danny RubinNatasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 – Dave Malloy

Best Revival of a Play: August Wilson’s Jitney (WINNER)Lillian Hellman’s The Little FoxesPresent LaughterSix Degrees of Separation

Best Revival of a Musical: Hello, Dolly! (WINNER)FalsettosMiss Saigon

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play: Kevin Kline, Present Laughter (WINNER)
Denis Arndt in Heisenberg
Chris Cooper in A Doll’s House, Part 2
Corey Hawkins in Six Degrees of Separation
Jefferson Mays in Oslo

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play: Laurie Metcalf, A Doll’s House, Part 2 (WINNER)
Cate Blanchett in The Present
Jennifer Ehle in Oslo
Sally Field in The Glass Menagerie
Laura Linney in Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen (WINNER)
Christian Borle in Falsettos
Josh Groban in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Andy Karl in Groundhog Day The Musical
David Hyde Pierce in Hello, Dolly!

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical: Bette Midler, Hello, Dolly! (WINNER)
Denee Benton in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Christine Ebersole in War Paint
Patti LuPone in War Paint
Eva Noblezada in Miss Saigon

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play: Michael Aronov Oslo (WINNER)
Danny DeVito in Arthur Miller’s The Price
Nathan Lane in The Front Page
Richard Thomas in Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes
John Douglas Thompson in August Wilson’s Jitney

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play: Cynthia Nixon, Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes (WINNER)
Johanna Day in Sweat
Jayne Houdyshell in A Doll’s House, Part 2
Condola Rashad in A Doll’s House, Part 2
Michelle Wilson in Sweat

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: Gavin Creel, Hello, Dolly! (WINNER)
Mike Faist in Dear Evan Hansen
Andrew Rannells in Falsettos
Lucas Steele in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Brandon Uranowitz in Falsettos

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Rachel Bay Jones, Dear Evan Hansen (WINNER)
Kate Baldwin in Hello, Dolly!
Stephanie J. Block in Falsettos
Jenn Colella in Come From Away
Mary Beth Peil in Anastasia

Best Scenic Design of a Play: Nigel Hook, The Play That Goes Wrong (WINNER)
David Gallo of August Wilson’s Jitney
Douglas W. Schmidt of The Front Page
Michael Yeargan of Oslo

Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Mimi Lien, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (WINNER)
Rob Howell of Groundhog Day The Musical
David Korins of War Paint
Santo Loquasto of Hello, Dolly!

Best Costume Design of a Play: Jane Greenwood, Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes (WINNER)
Susan Hilferty of Present Laughter
Toni-Leslie James of August Wilson’s Jitney
David Zinn of A Doll’s House, Part 2

Best Costume Design of a Musical: Santo Loquasto, Hello, Dolly! (WINNER)
Linda Cho of Anastasia
Paloma Young of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Catherine Zuber of War Paint

Best Lighting Design of a Play: Christopher Akerlind, Indecent (WINNER)
Jane Cox of August Wilson’s Jitney
Donald Holder of Oslo
Jennifer Tipton of A Doll’s House, Part 2

Best Direction of a Play: Rebecca Taichman, Indecent (WINNER)
Sam Gold of A Doll’s House, Part 2
Ruben Santiago-Hudson of August Wilson’s Jitney
Bartlett Sher of Oslo
Daniel Sullivan of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes

Best Direction of a Musical: Christopher Ashley, Come From Away (WINNER)
Rachel Chavkin of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Michael Greif of Dear Evan Hansen
Matthew Warchus of Groundhog Day The Musical
Jerry Zaks of Hello, Dolly!

Best Choreography: Andy Blankenbuehler, Bandstand (WINNER)
Peter Darling and Ellen Kane of Groundhog Day The Musical
Kelly Devine of Come From Away
Denis Jones of Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical
Sam Pinkleton of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812

]]>Four Newly Opened Shows Vie for Best Musicalhttp://www.nytix.com/news/10290/four-newly-opened-shows-vie-for-best-musical
Sat, 23 May 2015 16:21:56 +0000http://www.nytix.com/news/?p=10290“An American in Paris,” “Fun Home,” “Something Rotten!” and “The Visit” On June 7, 2015, the Tony Awards will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall. The most prestigious and significant award is arguably that for Best Musical. This year there are four nominees for that honor: An American in Paris, Fun Home, Something […]

On June 7, 2015, the Tony Awards will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall. The most prestigious and significant award is arguably that for Best Musical. This year there are four nominees for that honor: An American in Paris, Fun Home, Something Rotten! and The Visit. It will certainly be a tough race, and it is difficult to determine which the favorite will be among Tony voters. A somewhat less prominent Broadway awards ceremony, the Outer Critics Circle Awards, just announced their winners, which may or may not presage the Tony results. Of the five nominees for the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, three overlap with the Tony nominees, but Fun Home was excluded from the options, while It Shoulda Been You and The Last Ship were also included. The winner was An American in Paris. Still, many believe that Fun Home and also Something Rotten! have a fighting chance at this year’s awards. The Visit, on the other hand, is a nod to its creators John Kander and Fred Ebb, but there is little chance that show will prove victorious on the big day.

Post-Opening Critical Response

If the critical reaction to these musicals means anything for their Tony prospects, then it does seem that it’s most likely a race between An American in Paris and Fun Home. When An American in Paris opened on April 12, 2015, the New York Times gave it a rave, as did most other critics. Charles Isherwood called the ballet musical adapted from the film of the same name “rhapsodic,” “witty,” and “vivifying.” Of the major press, only David Cote from Time Out New York was on the fence, deeming the quality of the show “patchwork,” though admittedly “lavish,” and believing it to be principally a dance show with a storyline squeezed in between the numbers. As for Fun Home, all the main reviewers were extremely impressed, with Ben Brantley of The New York Times describing it as a universal detective story. He was relieved and revitalized by the breath of fresh air that this show is in comparison to the often recycled nature of Broadway fare. Furthermore, Adam Feldman of Time Out New York found Fun Home to be graceful and moving. As for Something Rotten!, many critics were moved and delighted by this original take on the origin of the musical in Shakespearean times, but the most well regarded critic, Ben Brantley of The New York Times, vehemently disagreed. He was not impressed by the unchecked enthusiasm on display, and he was bored by the repetitive nature of the wannabe showstopper. Still, many other critics were impressed, such as David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter, who found the show rambunctious and magnificently cheesy. As for The Visit, the reviews were decidedly mixed.

If Box Office Has Any Bearing on the Awards

Furthermore, the box office response is interesting to consider in light of the show’s potential at the Tony Awards. Ever since the Tony nominations were announced in late April, An American in Paris has been firmly in the millionaire’s club, which cannot be said of any of the other three nominees. This past week, the week ending May 17, 2015, the show brought in $1,280,111, which represents 87.01% of its gross potential. It was full to 99.9% capacity, which demonstrates a small amount of discounting. Fun Home, on the other hand, is having a more difficult time attracting an audience. Though reviews are splendid and buzz is abounding, the highest week thus far, which was this past week, brought in a weekly gross of $587,716, representing 78.85% of its gross potential. The show is playing in the much smaller Circle in the Square Theatre, but still it is having difficulty keeping up with An American in Paris, even in terms of percentage of gross potential. Nevertheless, this past week it had filled 102.5% of its audience capacity, so the energy is high in the theatre and excitement is sure to pick up as the Tony’s approach. Something Rotten! has also been creeping up since the Tony nominee announcements, reaching a high this past week of $950,418, representing 91.74% of its gross potential. The Visit, on the other hand, is barely staying afloat, bringing in only $211,430 this past week, which represents only 27.72% of its gross potential. Chances are that The Visit will close soon after the Tony Awards.